Broken Strings and Rusted Chains
by Cherry Blossom Haiku
Summary: Because all Platina wants to do is save Pearl. Self abuse fic. Mentions of CommonerShipping and one sided HaughtyShipping. A companion to A Hero's Welcome, but can be read separately. OneShot.


_A new story for you. A companion piece to _A Hero's Welcome but can be read separately. I do not own anything but the plot.

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It hurts sometimes.

Not just sometimes, but all the time. Like a bomb has imploded inside of his heart, and he can't pick up the pieces. Not anymore, not ever. He just sits there now, doing nothing, orange eyes dead.

He remembers the old days, of happiness. Where it wasn't just his dream, it was _theirs_. He didn't have to do anything alone, because his friend would always be beside him. They grew up together, thick as thieves, acted like brothers. They were more inseparable than anyone. They did everything together.

But some things, as Pearl solemnly notes, change.

One day, Dia just got up and left. Claiming he wanted to become stronger, that he wanted to be worthy of his title of a leader. That being the champion was his dream. But Pearl didn't get it. Becoming comedians was their dream, something they shared. Why, after all these years of sharing, did Dia want to do something by himself?

But Pearl didn't know it was because Dia wanted to do something without factoring in his best friend for once.

The first year Dia was gone, Pearl acted like himself. He doubted Dia's ability to be by himself. He knew it was only a matter of time before his best friend came running back home, realizing that he wanted to be a comedian instead of a champion. For three hundred sixty five days Pearl waited, but Dia never came home.

Pearl knew he lost his brother.

During the second year, Peal slowed down. Faking a smile to those around him, drowning in his sorrows when alone. It was a terrible life to live, and he knew it. Something inside of him always wondered why he did what he did. But that year, something inside of Pearl broke, snapped like a twig. And for the first time in his young life, he had no way to fix it.

When he broke down, so did life.

Somewhere between the third and fourth year, Pearl discovered heroin. He was scared to use it, and knew what he was doing was wrong. But it alleviated the pain. He was starting to feel like himself again. He was self medicated and happy. People around him were too naïve to see what was really going on. They were so ecstatic to see Pearl himself again. It was as if he had forgotten why he had leapt into depression in the first place.

Pearl stumbled back into society, but never remembered anything when he got back up.

Sometime after the seventh year, Pearl got a visit from Platina. She had done some travelling after the trio parted ways, and had finally returned to visit her friend. She was already pseudo-depressed. The weight of her love for Dia held her back, though she knew he would come back to her. But something inside of her snapped when she saw the needle.

The heroin.

Platina didn't understand, and she didn't want to. But she knew that her best friend was destroying himself in grief and anger. She wanted to fix him, to help because she couldn't when he spiraled downwards. Pearl, naturally, refused her help. He showed her that everything was better now, that life had returned to normal after he started. This choice was better for everyone, including him.

But Platina knew better. She saw that death was being held down by broken strings and rusted chains. She wanted, no, needed to save him before the darkness was let loose. She looked around for a facility, to help rehabilitate her friend, to show him that life was worth living minus the drugs.

Around the eighth year, Platina found a center and Pearl was sick. Though Platina knew this sickness was a long time coming, Pearl was caught off guard. He was never sick, so surely he must have a cold. Platina tried with all her might to convince him of otherwise, but the boy had stopped listening to reason long ago.

Because Dia was the only one who really understood him.

She brought him to the facility, held his hand to his room. Put his clothes in the drawers, calmed him when hysterics came. Left him flowers and photos. Came to visit every weekend, gave him a journal to document his rehabilitation progress. Pearl wrote in it every day, under supervision of a nurse.

He read that journal before Dia came back, and noted the difficulty of his own mission.

During the middle of the tenth year, Pearl was allowed back home under strict supervision. He had become a cautious, apathetic man. Though he smiled, everyone knew he would never be truly the same. His smiles were half hearted, and his eyes were dull. When he broke, the damage was irreparable. Pearl would never be the same person he was before ever again.

Dia came home at the end of the tenth year. Pearl was at home, visiting with Platina. Over the past years, the boy had become enamored with the girl. Though he knew she would never reciprocate, he took joy knowing he could love again. That he could feel a feeling that wasn't hatred or betrayal. When Dia walked into his house, Platina ran and hugged him. Because Dia had been gone for awhile, and she missed him.

Pearl missed him too.

Dia was now the champion of the Sinnoh League. He was a hero. He had chosen to walk a path of strength, something he had to learn. But Pearl walked the path of redemption, and had learned to accept himself and his life. And now Pearl learned that destruction wasn't really happiness, it was destruction and nothing more.

And broken strings became rope, and rusted chains became a sturdy cage. And fear and depression were kept locked inside. Pearl had learned to live without them.

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_Hoped you liked it! I know it's choppy, but for some reason I really like it! Comments are happiness!_

_Live Long in Song_

_Cherry Blossom Haiku  
_


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